Vikings look to make strides

The Lakewood girls soccer team will have a great deal of experience in 2013 as they look to improve on last season's 8-18-1 season.

Brooke VanValkenburg, Shannon Morse, Isabel Salgado and Megan Cronk will be the senior leaders on the squad while juniors Devin Ayers and Madi Neustifer, and sophomores Emily Taylor, Danielle Kosten and Alli Fetterman will also bring varsity knowledge to the roster.

Viking coach Paul Gonzales said with the returning players and the new faces they have this year, he is optimistic about the potential of his team this spring.

"The girls good attitudes will be a strong point of the team this year," he said. "The returning nine players should give us a good foundation to build around.

"Our returning players need to take what they learned last year and build on it. We lost a few key players to graduation, so we will need them to believe that they can take the next step."

Gonzales said if his players practice hard and keep a positive attitude, that the team goals for the season will be obtainable.

"Our goals will be to work hard, have fun and give our all at all practices and in games," he said. "This will in turn take care of our team goals for the year. The key will be improving each game and getting the new girls to gel with the rest of the team."

Coming off a 3-5 record in the Capital Area Activities Conference White division, Gonzales considers every team top competition in the league.

Lakewood was supposed to open the season on Wednesday night in Olivet, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather.

The Vikings are scheduled to begin the 2013 campaign on Monday at Belding.

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